CHP1

On June 22, 1911, the day George V is crowned king, thirteen-year-old Billy Williams, called Billy
Twice," goes to work for the first time in the mines of his home in Aberowen, Wales. His one
surviving sister, Ethel, comes to wish him a happy birthday and a good first day in the mines. She is
in service to the local aristocrat, Earl Fitzherbert.
Billy meets his friend Tommy Griffiths and the two boys go off to the mines. Billys father, who is
known as a socialist, and Tommys father, who is an atheist, are not popular with the mine
managers. The boys are warned not to be troublemakers. Billy realizes that he is protected from
harm by his fathers position as a union agent.
The boys are led to their workplaces by Rhys Price, who dislikes Billy because Ethel refused to
walk out with (date) him. Billy and Tommy are given lamps designed so they will not spark an
explosion in the methane from the coal seams. They ride down the shaft in a cage lift.
At the bottom, Billy breaths in the coal-dust-filled air, which explains why so many of the colliers
(miners) are always coughing and spitting. Tommy is given the job of working the underground
stables of the ponies that pull the drams (carts), which is the job he was hoping to get.
Led down into an abandoned section of the mine, Billy is given the task of cleaning out muck in a
deserted section. Price checks Billys lamp, proclaims it not so good, and leaves him on his own.
Billy begins shoveling the muck into the dram. Before long, his lamp goes out. Since he is not
allowed to have any matches, he is supposed to take the lamp to a lighting station to have it relit, but
he knows he will not be able to find his way in the pitch-black mine.
He decides to stay where he is and wait for Price to return. He continues to work and after some
time eats his lunch. The smell of food draws the rats to him, so he eats quickly. When he has
finished, the rats leave and Billy continues to shovel. He suspects that Price planned this, but he
also knows that he will not be left overnight out of fear of his father.
Remembering his mother (Mam) telling him that Jesus was always with him, even in the mines,
Billy begins to sing hymns. It is several hours before Price returns for him.
As he leaves, Billy sees a bearded face and a pale robe. He silently says thank you and follows
Price to the entrance. When he explains what happened, Billy says that he was not afraid because
Jesus was with him, earning him his new nickname: Billy-with-Jesus.

CHP 2

In January 1914, Earl Fitzherbert (Fitz) and his difficult Russian wife, Bea, prepare for a visit from
King George, who wants to know what the younger members of the aristocracy and diplomatic

community are thinking. As he tours the wine cellar, Fitz feels a strong attraction to Ethel Williams,
who is filling in for the ill housekeeper, Mrs. Jevons. Ethel does nothing to discourage him.
Ethel enjoys the responsibilities of a housekeeper and hopes she will be replacing Mrs. Jevons.
Fitzs sister, Maud, unexpectedly arrives, which worries Fitz because of her liberal political views.
She greets Walter von Ulrich, an old school friend of Fritz and now a diplomat at the German
embassy. With him is his cousin Robert von Ulrich, the Austrian military attach. Among the other
guests is Gus Dewar, whose father is an American senator.
After dinner, the talk is of the possibility of war between Germany and Britain. Gus Dewar brings up
many reasons for conflict between the two nations. Walter von Ulrich points out that Britain and
Germany are the only major European countries not seeking territorial expansion.
The following morning, Maud asks Ethel to go for a walk with her as a chaperone and they
exchange gossip about political figures. They meet Walter von Ulrich, which is the purpose of the
walk. As Ethel walks separately, she sees them holding hands and then kissing passionately until
they are interrupted by the ground shaking.
Billy and Tommy, now sixteen years old, are working when they hear the explosion. They go down to
rescue the trapped workers. It becomes clear that changes to the safety conditions required by
recent laws have not been implemented. Billy gains a reputation as a hero for his efforts in the
rescue operation.
Perceval Jones, the mayor of Aberowen, reports the details of the mine disaster to the king and
Fritz. Ethel is brought in to give details she learned from Billy, including the lack of safety
precautions. She boldly suggests that the king might make a low-key visit to the bereaved families,
which King George thinks is an excellent idea. Ethel, who knows all the mining families, goes along
to inform the king and queen about the people who have lost loved ones.
A week later, Billy takes part in the informal services at Bethesda Chapel, praying for understanding
of the hard-heartedness of the mine directors, whose negligence caused so many deaths and
injuries.
Earl Fitzherbert opens his gardens to the grieving community. Ethel has been made housekeeper
because of her excellent management during the kings visit. Ethels father, however, is not happy
about his daughter being involved in that farce, as he calls the kings visitation of the bereaved.
Upset, Ethel goes inside and cries. Fitz overhears her and, as he comforts her, they kiss, giving in to
their desire for each other.

CHP3

The following month, Fitz is summoned to the London office of Mansfield Smith-Cumming, an old
friend of his father, on a matter of national importance. Smith-Cumming explains that he is with the
Secret Service. Knowing that Fitz is taking his wife to Russia to see her brother, Smith-Cumming

asks him to do some spying to determine the Russian preparedness for war, especially their
railways.
In St. Petersburg, Fitz and Gus Dewar tour the Russian locomotive works, guided by Lev and Grigori
Peshkov. Grigori recognizes Fritzs wife Bea as the sister of the Russian prince who had killed his
father.
A boy races into the shop, chased by his mother. The boy runs into Bea, who slaps him in the face.
Dewar is disgusted by Beas behavior.
Grigori tells Dewar that he and Lev are saving money to go to Buffalo, where Dewar is from, to get
jobs with the Vyalov family. Dewar knows that the Vyalovs are a criminal gang, but he tells Grigori
simply that they employ several hundred people in their hotel bars.
Grigori remembers back to his childhood when the tsar came to his village. As the carriage
approached, all the villagers knelt on the ground as the carriage rolled on without stopping. Grigori
was upset that he did not get to see the tsar.
On his way home from work, Grigori stops a policeman from molesting a young woman. Dewar, who
is passing by in a car with Fritz and Bea, stops and rescues both Grigori and the woman.
Unfortunately, Dewar calls Grigori by his name, which means the police now know his identity.
Dewar takes the two Russians back to Grigoris home.
Grigori tells the woman, Katerina, of the time when the soldiers came to his village. His mother
grabbed him and his brother and took off running, but they were captured by the police and dragged
back to the gallows in the village market place, where the Prince and his sister, Princess Bea, sat in
a carriage. They were forced to watch as Grigoris father was executed along with two other men for
allowing his cattle to graze on the Princesss land.
As Grigori finishes his story, he cleans Katerinas wounds and falls instantly in love with her. He tells
her of the death of his mother, killed on Bloody Sunday in 1905 when the workers marched to the
Winter Palace to plead to the tsar for redress of grievances.
Lev comes home and Katerina explains that her mother threw her out when she thought her new
husband preferred Katerina to his own wife. Grigori notices that Katerinas attention has turned to
Lev and she all but ignores her rescuer.
CHP4 5

Billy Williams and his father argue over Billys growing spiritual doubts. They are interrupted by the
entrance of Mrs. Dai Ponies, the widow of one of the workers killed in the mine accident. She has
received an eviction notice to make way for a current mine worker and has two weeks to find a new
home for herself and her five children.
Mr. Williams learns that the widows of all eight dead miners are being evicted. Billy is outraged. He
and his father confront Maldwyn Morgan, one the managers of the mines, who says the companys
negligence was not a contributing factor in the explosion. Mr. Williams arguments have no effect on

Morgan, so a meeting of the union members is called. After much discussion, they vote to strike the
following day.
Fitz and Ethel consummate their affair, careful to avoid pregnancy. Ethel shudders to think of what
her father would say. She persuades Fitz to feed the children of the striking miners and learns that
all the striking miners have been evicted.
Ethel gathers the widows together and convinces them to write a letter to the king, helping them with
the wording. However, they receive no reply, and the villagers of Aberowen watch as the miners and
their families are evicted forcibly.
Although only twenty eight, Walter von Ulrich hopes to be a German ambassador someday. He feels
that his fathers generation has built their arrogance on the past. As Otto von Ulrich goes with Walter
to be presented to the king, he talks with Seor Diaz of Mexico about shipping arms to the Mexican
government, although America is arming those in rebellion against the new leader, General Huerta.
Ottos only request is that Mexico stop selling oil to Britain.
After King George greets Walter, Otto suggests that Walter keep up his friendship with Earl
Fitzherbert in case the Conservatives ever return to power. They visit a charity clinic sponsored by
Fitz and find Maud working there as Patroness. Walter nervously introduces her to his father. Otto at
first is impressed with Maud but finds it disgusting that she is working with a Jewish doctor.
Gus Dewar now works as an advisor to President Woodrow Wilson. He is also having an affair with
Caroline Wigmore, the wife of his former Harvard professor.
Gus receives news that a group of American sailors has been arrested by the Mexican government,
sparking a crisis and putting Mexico and the United States on the brink of war. The news of the
German shipment of arms to Mexico leads Wilson to order the invasion of Vera Cruz.
In the midst of the crisis, Caroline arrives to tell Gus that their affair is over. As for the impending
war, Wilson is horrified to learn that the Mexicans are resisting rather than welcoming their
liberators. The German government lodges a formal protest since the invasion is illegal by
international law. Wilson is forced to apologize, much to the delight of the Germans.

CHP 6 7

Grigori Peshkov finally has saved enough money to go to America and has bought his ticket from
the Vyalov family, along with a letter guaranteeing employment in Buffalo. On the morning of his
ships departure, Grigori must run from the police; they are looking for Lev, who is wanted for the
murder of a man during a smuggling operation.
Katerina begs Grigori to help Lev. At the ship, Lev meets Grigori and asks him to give him his ticket
to America. Reluctantly, Grigori does so, knowing that he has no choice. When Grigori tells Katerina
that Lev has gone, she is furious with Grigori and tells him that she is pregnant with Levs baby.
Despairing, Grigori promises to take care of her.

On the ship, Lev has to go by Grigoris name, since the ticket and the passport are in his name.
When the boat docks, he and the other emigrants sponsored by the Vyalov family disembark and
learn that they are in Wales, not America. Lev gets a job as a strikebreaker in the coal mines in
Aberowen. There, Lev recognizes Bea. He befriends her Russian maid, who promises him some
food and tells him that Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austrian throne, has been assassinated in
Sarajevo, Bosnia.
In London, Walter von Ulrich knows that the assassination is a serious threat to Germanys security.
He meets Anton, a Russian contact, and learns that the tsar fears that war will lead to revolution, but
it all depends on what Austria does. If Serbia is attacked, Russia will have to go to war.
The newspapers contain more information about the unrest in Ireland than the troubles in the
Balkans. Walter meets his cousin Robert, who is intimate with the Austrian court. Robert tells Walter
that the assassins were supplied by Serbian military intelligence. He also says that the Austrian
emperor has written to Kaiser Wilhelm, stating his resolve that Serbia must be eliminated.
Walter goes to his fathers office and shares what he has learned. He then meets Maud at tea at the
Duchess of Sussexs home. Maud manages to get Walter alone in the library, but they are soon
interrupted by Lady Hermia, Mauds aunt.
Walter decides that he and Maud cannot go on meeting in secrecy. He knows his father will object to
his marrying Maud, as he indeed does, pointing out that England and Germany will soon be
enemies.
Later, at the charity clinic, Otto von Ulrich comes to see Maud, demanding that she break off her
engagement with Walter. When he points out that Walter would be disowned for the sake of his
fathers career and his own, Maud reluctantly agrees.
CHP 8 9

Ethel discovers that she is pregnant. When she tells Fitz, he tells her that Bea is also pregnant. Fitzs main
concern is for his heir, who can only be by his wife.
Ethel contemplates leaving Aberowen. Maud shares with Ethel her own tragedy of having to give up Walter
von Ulrich. Ethel meets with Fitzs attorney, who explains that Fitz is offering her a pension at housemaid
wages, provided she never attempt to contact Fitz. Ethel refuses the offer.
Fitz worries about what Ethel will do, fearing that she will tell his wife and cause her to have another
miscarriage. Perceval Jones tells him that the tensions in Ireland are reaching a breaking point: Ireland has
been promised independence, but the Protestants fear the control of the Catholic majority.
Bea tells Fitz that she wants to help out the Russian strikebreakers, who are being ostracized in the village.
Fitz agrees since this will show that they are not taking sides, as they are already feeding the miners children.
Ethel demands that Fitz buy her a house in London where she can take in a lodger. However, Ethel finally
decides that she wants to go back home. Her mother is shocked at the news of her pregnancy, as is Billy. Ethel
tells them that the father was a visiting valet who has since joined the army. Gramper, her grandfather,
assumes that it is Earl Fitzherbert himself.
Her father is furious and orders her out of the house. He tells her that his own father was illegitimate and was
raised in a brothel. He vowed that no such shame would be in his own family. Ethel leaves for London after
all.

Walter begs Maud to come back to him. Maud cannot resist and Walter wants to talk to Fitz about their
marriage, but Maud asks him to wait a few days until the Serbian crisis blows over. At church, Billy reads
aloud from the Bible the story of Jesus forgiveness of the woman caught in adultery. When he finishes, he
walks out of the chapel and never returns.
In late July of 1914, the Balkans are still simmering, so Maud and Walters engagement is still secret. Walter
attends a meeting with Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey, who proposes a conference with Britain, Germany,
Italy, and France as mediators. Walter is optimistic, but his father thinks this is a plan to drive a wedge
between Germany and Austria.
Walter learns from Anton that the Russians are preparing for mobilization. When it is announced that Austria
has declared war on Serbia, Maud begins to cry, thinking of Walter going to war. A few days later, Maud tells
Fitz that Ethel came in to the charity clinic. In the meantime, Russia begins to mobilize, and Germany
prepares for war.
Chapters 10-11 Summary
Fitz, Bea, and Maud discuss the possibility of a coalition government comprised of Liberals and
Conservatives, which Maud fears will make war more likely because it will leave very few to stand for peace.
When Bea rushes from the breakfast table with morning sickness, Fitz tells Maud that she is pregnant. Maud
congratulates her brother but wonders aloud if he will be alive when the baby is born in January.
At the German Embassy, Walter hopes that the British and the French can stay out of the war so that the
conflict is confined to eastern Europe. However, this depends on Frances ability to maintain a position of
neutrality. Germany has told Britain that, if she promises to stay out of the war, France will not be invaded.
Fitz feels that this would be betraying British allies. France has a treaty with Russia, however, obliging her to
fight if Russia does, which it seems is about to happen. If France enters the war, Britain then will feel no
obligation to support her against Germany.
Walter tells Maud that France has rejected neutrality and is beginning to mobilize her army. He will be leaving
Britain to join his regiment as Germany invades France.
Under Winston Churchills direction as Lord Admiral, the British navy begins to prepare for war. Maud and
Walter attend Parliament to hear Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Greys address warning of Germanys potential
invasion of neutral Belgium, which would bring Britain into the conflict.
Afterwards, as they leave, Walter asks Maud to marry him, showing her the marriage license he managed to
obtain at short notice. He says they should be married the next day as he will most likely have to leave as soon
as the German army begins to move.
Maud worries about what will happen after the war starts. If Walter remains in Britain, he will be placed in a
prison camp. If he returns to Germany and she goes with him, she will not see him at all. She writes a letter to
him asking what his plans are after the wedding. Walter replies that he is leaving within a day or two, so they
will have to keep it secret until after the war, which he anticipates will be short. He wants one night with her
as husband and wife.
Maud manages to sneak out of the house and Walter picks her up in a car, where Maud is surprised to find
Ethel. Her former housekeeper explains that she is to be her witness and Walters cousin Robert will be his.
After the wedding, Walter and Maud go to the hotel for one honeymoon night. They learn that Britain has
declared war on Germany; Walter must leave by ten oclock the next morning.

Chapters 12-13 Summary

When Grigori Peshkov is called up to the army, his supervisor manages to get him a reprieve since his labor is
needed on the home front. However, his clash with Police Officer Pinsky in his rescue of Katerina leads
Pinsky to force him to join up anyway.
Katerina asks him to marry her so that she may get government assistance as a military wife. On their
wedding night, Katerina offers to sleep with him, but Grigori rejects her, knowing that she is offering her body
in payment, not out of love.
As his battalion meets the German offensive, Grigoris fear soon turns to anger at the relentless barrage of
bullets. The battle is nothing but confusion and Grigori is unable to make any shot count. He is surprised to
find most of one ear shot off. It is not until after the fighting is over that he manages to shoot a passing
German.
Walter details the casualties of the German victory to General Ludendorff. The Russian Second Army
(Grigoris division) effectively has been wiped out in the East, although the Russians have gained the
advantage on the Western Front.
In Paris, personal grievances between the British and French commanding generals slow communication as
the Germans march on the city. Fitz learns that the French government has fled Paris. He receives a call from
Maud with the news of the London home front. Fitz tells her of his prediction that the war will be over, one
way or another, in a few days.
Fitz receives intelligence that the German army is bypassing Paris and heading toward the River Marne. Fitz
is frustrated by the British retreat, which will ensure the fall of Paris. He manages to get the commanding
generals to negotiate, but this infuriates Colonel Harvey, his superior, who warns him that his advancement in
the military is over.
The Germans are now forced to fight on two fronts, but the British army remains too timid. The French must
compensate but do not have the resources to move the soldiers to the Front. French taxis are commandeered to
transport personnel from the city to the war zone. On September 9, the German army begins to retreat.
In October, both sides begin to dig trenches. The Battle of Ypres in Belgium results in an Allied victory and
the completion of a defensive barricade from Switzerland to the English Channel.
On Christmas Day, Fitz receives news that Bea has given birth to a boy. On the battlefield, the British and
German soldiers visit and exchange Christmas greetings. Fitz meets Walter, who asks him to tell Maud that he
was thinking of her on Christmas Day.
Chapters 14-15 Summary
Although Ethel has found a lodger (Mildred, a bawdy Cockney girl), she works in a factory sewing army
uniforms, saving up money for when her baby comes. She works for improvements in the workplace, much as
her father had. She attends a union meeting at which Maud is the speaker in support of womens equality.
Ethel writes a letter to Billy, telling him of the woes of an unmarried pregnant woman working in the city.
The coal miners strike in Aberowen is over, but Lev Peshkov continues to work in the mines. He is surprised
to see Spirya (who was his partner in cheating at cards on the immigrant ship) dressed as a priest. Spirya

threatens to reveal Levs past unless he gives up card games. Lev plays one more game to win money for a
boat ticket to America, but Spirya sees him and Lev barely makes it out of town on the train.
Billy goes to London to answer Ethels silent call for help in her letter. He finds her in labor and helps her give
birth to a baby boy. Ethel accidentally tells Billy that Fitz is the father. Billy threatens to kill him.
Lev arrives in America, where the Vyalov family in Buffalo hires him. He is now fluent in English, but with a
British accent. He makes money on the side by selling stolen goods on Vyalov property. Beaten by some of
Vyalovs henchmen, he is brought before Mr. Vyalov, who is impressed with Levs boldness.
In June 1915, the passenger ship Lusitania is torpedoed and sunk, killing many innocent people, including
Americans. Although the public and the President are committed to neutrality, the United States moves closer
to war. Gus Dewar, in his hometown of Buffalo for the summer, runs into Olga, a member of the Vyalov
family. He becomes interested in her and wants to become better acquainted with her.
Mr. Vyalov makes Lev his chauffeur/bodyguard. Lev is attracted to Olga even though she is the daughter of
his employer. Gus persuades his mother to invite Mrs. Vyalov to tea so that his relationship with Olga may
become more formal and more serious.
Olga begins an affair with Lev, but she still accepts Guss proposal when he asks her to marry him. Mr. Vyalov
has Lev kidnapped and brought to a warehouse, where Vyalov himself flogs him close to death. Olga is
pregnant and her engagement to Gus must be ended, even though it has been announced and the wedding
planned. Instead, Vyalov is forcing her to marry Lev, the father of her child.
Chapters 16-17 Summary
It is June of 1916 and Billy Williams is going to war. For the last year he was in training with the other men of
Aberowen, but now there is a need for more soldiers as there is to be a big push by the British army. Billys
father makes a feeble attempt to make peace with his son, knowing that it is unlikely he will return to
Aberowen.
The armies of Europe are lining up on both sides of the River Somme. Walter and Maud have had no contact
with each for almost two years. Walter spies on the preparations of the British army and reports that a major
assault is being planned.
Maud runs a newspaper supporting better treatment of the dependents of servicemen; Ethel Williams is the
manager. Together they have both ends of the social spectrum covered. They confront the woman in charge of
distributing the separation allowances to wives of soldiers. She is withholding the money from women
whom she feels are not morally fit. Maud is arrested when she refuses to leave.
Billy visits Ethel and Mildred before he goes overseas. Ethels baby, Lloyd, is a year and a half now, and Billy
is the only one whom Ethel has told the baby's middle name: Fitzherbert. Billy is attracted to Mildred, despite
(or because of) her crudeness and sleeps with her the night before he leaves.
Fitz is leading the troops from Aberowen, preparing for a massive push along the Somme. The French army
was severely depleted at the Battle of Verdun and so they have few soldiers to spare, leaving the British army
almost on its own.
Maud is fined one guinea for disturbing the peace, and she and Ethel plan the next campaign in their fight for
womens rights. Billy is surprised (and infuriated) to find that Fitz is the new commander of the Aberowen

division. In London, Maud is awakened by the sounds of artillery in distant France as the Battle of the Somme
begins.
Walter manages to sneak through enemy lines in his mission to gather intelligence concerning the number of
British soldiers along the Somme. He is overwhelmed when he sees thousands of men gathered in one spot.
Fitzs Welsh regiment waits in the soaking trenches for their turn to attack. When they at last move forward,
German machine guns cut down most of them. Billy tries to calm down Owen Bevin, who is sixteen but lied
about his age so he could enlist; he now wants to go home. Billy appeals to Fitz, who refuses to send Owen
from the battlefield. Owen runs off and Fitz predicts that it will be worse for him when he is captured.
Billy tells Fitz his name, and Fitz realizes he is Ethels brother. As the troops advance, Fitz is hit twice,
making Billy the highest ranking officer. He leads his men through craters to take out the machine guns. They
retreat, and Billy finds to his regret that Fitz is still alive.
A week later, sixteen-year-old Owen Bevin is convicted of cowardice and desertion. He is executed by firing
squad.
Chapters 18-19 Summary
After Lloyd becomes ill and she starts fearing for his life, Ethel decides to return home so that her parents can
see their grandson. When she returns to Aberowen, she waits before going to her parents home. When she
does, only Gramper is there. He is pleased to see her and his great-grandson. Ethels mother returns and also is
glad to see them, exclaiming that Lloyd looks just like his Uncle Billy.
When Da Williams comes home he says he has no grandson, and Ethel leaves in tears. She is still in
Aberowen when telegrams are delivered to the families of the soldiers killed at the Somme. Da, Mam, and
Gramper watch as the post office boy passes them, meaning Billy is alive. Da looks at Ethel, and they run into
each others arms.
In all, two hundred eleven Aberowen boys were killed at the Battle of the Somme. An interdenominational
memorial service is held. Fitz is present, walking on crutches and wearing a bandage on one side of his face.
Da Williams is one of the speakers and he quickly turns political, speaking out on a war that was chosen by a
minority but fought and died for by the majority. Although there is some attempt to silence him, his words are
met with thunderous applause.
Grigori Peshkov has survived the first two years of the war. He is not bothered by the brutality of the soldiers
but by the stupidity, callousness, and corruption of the officers. Katerina gave birth to a boy, naming him
Vladimir. He has heard nothing from Lev in America. During a confrontation with Austrian troops, Grigori
leads his men to a place of relative safety, letting the officers bear the brunt of the gunfire. In the retreat,
Grigori shoots his commanding officer in payment for his brutality.
Grigori is deployed back to Petrograd, which is the new name given to the capital in place of the Germansounding St. Petersburg. He is propositioned by a woman who has turned to prostitution to feed her starving
husband and children. At first Grigori accepts, giving her a loaf of bread, but changes his mind when he thinks
about her miserable position. She tells him of the increasing grip the tsars government has on the people.
Grigori fears that Katerina may have also been forced into selling herself to survive. When he finally forces
himself to go home, he is met by an ecstatic Katerina. She introduces him to baby Vladimir. Katerina explains
that bread is scarce and all prices have doubled. There is suspicion that the royal family is pro-German

because of the German-born tsarina. Grigori dismisses this but he does think them incompetent. Katerina tells
Grigori that she has learned to love him, and they finally consummate their marriage.
Chapters 20-21 Summary
The Battle of the Somme lasts until November and Ethel checks the casualty lists daily, fearful of seeing
Billys name. Mildred announces that she wants to start her own business as a seamstress. Bernie Leckwith, a
Jewish librarian, regularly visits Ethel, even though she earlier rejected his offer of marriage. Like Ethel,
Bernie is a reformer, but he believes it will take a revolution to effect any change. He repeats his offer of
marriage to Ethel, but she is still reluctant.
Woodrow Wilson narrowly wins re-election as Gus Dewar watches nervously. Rosa Hellman, an anarchist,
visits him; she warned him when he became engaged to Olga and was proved right. She tells him that Olga
gave birth to a girl and that Lev runs one of Vyalovs nightclubs.
The next morning, Wilson sends Gus to Berlin. When Walter returns there, he finds his mother struggling to
maintain her standard of living but insistent that she throw a party for him. He is surprised to find Gus Dewar
as one of the guests. Gus explains that Wilson wants Germany and the Allies to hold peace talks.
Walters mother tells him that his cousin Robert is missing, meaning Walter could be next in line to the family
titles. She wants him to marry Monika von der Helbard, one of the old aristocracy. Walter tells his father of
Wilsons request for peace talks; Otto von Ulrich dismisses the idea but agrees to pass it on to the Kaiser.
Walter asks Gus to deliver a letter to Maud. At a party at Fitzs country home in Aberowen, Ty Gwyn, Gus
does so.
Fitz is unable to return to combat because of his injuries, so he is assigned to naval intelligence. Bea has
become more distant, focusing her attention on her son and regaining her interest in her Russian heritage. Fitz
reminds her that she has a duty to bear him children.
Fitz goes with Maud to a meeting in the East End, where he sees Ethel. He speaks to her, but they both
maintain a very formal tone. He asks her to meet him the next day and Ethel reluctantly agrees. He offers to
arrange for her to watch a Parliamentary debate now that her childhood hero, David Lloyd George, is Prime
Minister. He also offers to set her up in a large house complete with servants and tutors for Lloyd if she will
be his mistress. She tells him that she will think about it.
Ethel invites Fitz to a meeting about the peace talks. Billy, who is in London on a weeks leave, publicly
condemns the officers (specifically Fitzs) competence and honesty. Ethel attends Parliament when Lloyd
George rejects Germanys offer of peace talks. In outrage, Ethel stands up and shouts out the names of the
boys from Aberowen who were killed. She is dragged out of the chamber.
Chapters 22-23 Summary
After the rejection of peace talks, Walter fears the entry of the United States into the war, which the new
policy of unrestricted warfare is sure to guarantee. The Foreign Minister proposes offering U.S. land to
Mexico to keep America distracted.
Fitz learns of the Zimmerman plan through an intercepted telegram. He gives the information to Gus Dewar.
The details include a return of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona to Mexico if Germany wins the war, as well
as the intention of encouraging Japan to invade the American West Coast.

After Fitzs renunciation of peace talks, Ethel decides to marry Bernie Leckwith. She realizes that she and
Bernie are soul mates in a way that she and Fitz never could be. She feels ashamed of herself for even
thinking of being Fitzs kept woman.
Through Gus Dewar and back channels, Wilson releases the contents of the Zimmerman telegram. Wilson
wants to enter the war but has been re-elected on a peace platform. The telegram quickly changes public
opinion of favor of war.
Grigori and Katerina struggle to survive and to keep baby Vladimir healthy. Bread is rationed and workers go
on strike. The tsar dissolves the Duma (parliament) and calls out the army to end the strikes. Grigori and some
others attack the police instead. Grigori shoots Pinsky in the leg, but his nemesis manages to escape. He kills a
sniper, making him a hero of the people. The Russian Revolution has begun.
Grigori is horrified by the rape, violence, and looting, wanting there to be some kind of order. A soviet
(committee of representatives) is formed. Grigori unanimously is elected as a member, but he is frustrated by
inaction over practical matters such as bread for the starving people. The Duma regroups and is in conflict
with the soviet, but the soviet emerges as the true power since it controls the military.
Grigori manages to return home to a very worried Katerina. He warns her to stay out of the streets. They are
overjoyed at the news that the tsar has been forced to abdicate.
Walters parents are still trying to get him married. They celebrate the overthrow of the tsar but are worried
about a democracy in Russia. Billy and his comrades also rejoice at the news. Fitz, however, is horrified at the
idea of overthrowing a monarch, and Bea falls to pieces when she hears, fearing for the safety of her brother.
Ethel and Bernie are cautiously optimistic. In America, Lev Peshkov cheers the Revolution. Gus Dewar tells
President Wilson that he hopes that, in the end, the Russian people will benefit.
Chapters 24-25 Summary
Walter finds himself attracted to Monika von der Helbard despite his marriage to Maud. He and Monika
discuss the new Russian governments announcement that they will continue to fight. Despite his own
attraction and her obvious interest in him, Walter keeps Monika at arms length, even though he knows that
her feelings are hurt by his distance.
After finding an article about Maud in his wallet, Monika guesses that not only is he in love with Maud but is
in fact married to her. Despite her pain, she promises to keep their secret. Walter writes a letter to Maud in
code, telling her that his family wants him to marry someone and that he has been forced to tell their secret.
On April 6, 1917, the United States declares war on Germany. Walters only hope now is for the Russian
government to collapse so that the anti-war group will take control.
Exiled Russian revolutionaries in Germany take the train back to Russia, going north through Scandinavia.
Lenin is the leader of the group and Walter goes along as a low-level German observer, wondering if Lenin
will gain control of the government. On the train, Lenin acts like a dictator, albeit a benevolent one, which
causes Walter to wonder how he would rule Russia. Walter bribes Lenin to overthrow the government and take
Russia out of the war.
When the train stops in Stockholm, Walter is overwhelmed to find Maud waiting for him. It has been almost
three years since they last saw each other.

Grigori is on hand to welcome Lenin home. Lenins speech to the crowd urges them to start a world
revolution, not one confined to Russia. He preaches the overthrow of the provisional government and a
withdrawal from the war, just as Walter had bribed him to do.
Levs marriage to Olga has taken a turn for the worse. She thinks he is low-class, but he reminds her that he
used to be the chauffeur. He hires Marga as an entertainer and soon begins an affair with her. Vyalov, Levs
father-in-law, catches them in the act and fires Marga and punches her. He transfers Lev to the management
of a foundry. Lev objects, but he is terrified of Vyalov. Lena, Levs mother-in-law, is in love with him and
constantly flirts with him. Lev loves only his daughter, Daisy.
Gus Dewar learns that the Buffalo Metal Works laborers are on strike. Not only is the foundry vital for the war
effort, but it is also where Lev now works as a manager. Gus goes up to Buffalo to settle the strike. He orders
Vyalov and Lev to meet the workers demands, claiming the power of the government during wartime.
Lev continues to see Marga but is caught once again, this time by Vyalov, Olga, and Daisy. Vyalov forces Lev
to join the army, hoping he will be killed. Lev taunts Gus on his civilian status, but Gus informs him that he
has signed up with the National Army.
Chapters 26-27 Summary
Ethel and Bernie are true soul mates working toward the same goals. Ethel has no regrets about their marriage.
Bernie hopes to run for Parliament as a Labour candidate. They discuss the increasing possibility that at least
some women will be given the right to vote. Maud is not optimistic, suspicious that Parliament will only
pretend to give women suffrage. She is proved right when the bill gives only women householders over thirty
and wives of householders the vote. Ethel is willing to settle for what they can get and keep on working, but
Maud calls her a traitor to the cause. The two friends go their separate ways.
The war is going badly for the Allies, and French soldiers are becoming mutinous. Russia is an unknown
quantity as the government remains unsettled since the revolution. Bea receives news that her brother Andrei
has been wounded, his arm amputated.
Fitz attends a political dinner where the talk turns to womens suffrage. Perceval Jones, once mayor of
Aberowen and now its representative in Parliament, says Conservatives support the current bill because it
shuts out the young women laborers who are usually socialists. Fitz is against the whole thing and, like his
sister Maud, is not in favor of compromise.
Bea tells Fitz that she wants to go to Russia to see Andrei. Fitz sees this as an opportunity to observe
conditions in Russia for the Foreign Office. Ethel views the House of Commons victory for womens suffrage
with some regret that she and Maud are no longer championing the cause together. Passing by, Fitz warns her
that it will be defeated in the House of Lords.
Walter goes to the Russian trenches to investigate the current mood of the soldiers, which is uniformly against
continued fighting. In Petrograd, Katerina is now pregnant with Grigoris baby, which makes Grigori even
more determined to provide a more just world for his children. He does not like Lenin but knows that he is a
man of action. He receives word that Lenin is to be arrested, so he warns him to flee.
Walter sneaks into Petrograd disguised as a Russian peasant. He runs into Grigori at the train station and they
discuss the position of the Bolsheviks in the government. Followed by a policeman, Walter manages to kill his
pursuer. The Conservatives start a counterrevolution against the Bolsheviks, as Grigori had predicted.

Fitz and Bea arrive at Andreis home and are warned of the possibility of the local peasants rising up. The
warning is too late and the peasants attack the house that night, killing Andrei and his wife. Fitz and Bea just
barely escape.
Chapters 28-29 Summary
Walter blames his father and his fathers generation for the prolonged war. The American Expeditionary Force
landed in France in June 1917, despite the arrogant assurances of the German leadership that it would not. All
now depends on Russia withdrawing from the war.
Grigori rises in the emerging Bolshevik Party. Katerina is miserable as the birth of her baby draws near. In an
attempt to break up the soviets, the government decides to send the Petrograd garrison to the front. Lenin and
Trotsky argue over the merits of a coalition government.
The leader of the Russian provisional government, Prime Minister Kerensky, is on his way out. Trotsky is
seen as the new leader, and Grigori is at his side as he very subtly takes over.
Lenin remains in hiding to avoid arrest. The two men begin plans to storm the Winter Palace and arrest the
ministers of the provisional government. When the assault is complete and the Winter Palace is in control of
the Bolsheviks, Grigori stands on the spot where his mother died and sees the revolution as his own personal
revenge against the tsarist government. He is undone when he finds that Lenin has settled for compromise
with the moderate Mensheviks, but the agreement falls apart and the Mensheviks walk out, leaving the
Bolsheviks in control.
Grigoris joy is tempered when he sees that Pinsky, his nemesis, has joined the Revolution. Katerina gives
birth to a girl while Grigori is busy fighting; she sent a message to him that she was giving birth, but he
ignored it. She is bitter that she had to have the baby with the help of the midwife they both hated.
In March 1918, Germany and Russia agree to an armistice, signing a peace treaty at Brest-Litovsk. Walter
believes that Germany is now close to winning the war. American reinforcements in France continue to grow,
however.
Walter has been reassigned to the battlefield as the fighting has become crucial in the final days of the war. On
the fog-covered no-mans-land, Walters company faces Billy Williams and the boys of Aberowen. When the
fog lifts, the gunfire begins. The Germans split and come at the British from both sides. Billy and his men
retreat.
Walter and his troops take over the British trenches, admiring the homely aspect of them, as if the British had
lived there for months. They find food, giving the lie to reports that the German blockade of England was
effective. The soldiers eat their fill, having been short of food for a long time. Walter realizes that the German
army has regained all the territory lost in the Battle of the Somme.
Chapters 30-31 Summary
Fitz holds a house party for those who are opposed to the new Russian regime. Among the guests is Winston
Churchill, a Liberal despite being a descendant of the nobility. Churchill and Maud trade barbs over the
freedoms of the socialist government, much to Fitzs chagrin. He and Churchill both fear the spread of
socialism.

Despite Fitzs warning, the House of Lords narrowly passes the bill on limited womens suffrage. There are
also efforts to reform (limit) the House of Lords. Fitzs son Boy is now three but is ill during the house
party. Bea is eight months pregnant. When the doctor arrives to check on Boy, he announces that Bea is in
labor, having miscalculated the timing. She gives birth to another boy.
At Churchills request, Fitz meets with Mansfield Smith-Cumming (known simply by the letter C) of the
Secret Service. C enlists Fitz in the attempt to overthrow Lenin. He sends Fitz to Vladivostok to meet with the
Cossack leader Semenov.
Gus Dewar does not make a smooth adjustment to the life of the army but needs to do well to disprove
peoples doubts about him.
President Wilson calls for a new world order led by a league of nations. He prepares a list of fourteen points to
be resolved at the end of the war.
On the troop ship carrying Gus and other American troops overseas, Spanish flu breaks out and claims several
men. Germanys army is advancing with the front now at Rheims, north of Paris. The British army is pinned
down in Flanders.
Walters troops reach the River Marne. Guss division also arrives there to hold the defense. In the fighting,
Gus proves he has the makings of a useful officer.
Walter is dismayed to see that American troops have arrived to reinforce the French. Guss friend Chuck
Dixon is killed, bringing the personal implications of war to Gus. He dreads giving the details of his friends
death to Chucks family back in Buffalo.
A bullet breaks Walters shinbone. The Germans retreat from the Marne. Walter wakes up in hospital to learn
that the Americans have taken up the position on the south bank of the river. There is another American
victory at Bois de Belleau.
Walter returns to his parents home to convalesce. New tanks appear at the Battle of Amiens, promising a
formidable weapon in warfare. Otto von Ulrich tells Walter at the end of September that the military
commander Ludendorff wants an armistice.
Chapters 32-33 Summary
Maud has lunch with Lord Remarc, a junior minister in the War Office. He tells her that Britain resents being
bypassed by Germany in favor of America in armistice talks as well as British disagreement with colonial
rights in Wilsons Fourteen Points. Maud learns that Fitzs meeting with the Cossack leader Semenov was a
disappointment.
Billy and the Aberowen boys are shipped to Vladivostok. Fitz is in command and explains that their mission is
to protect Allied arms now that the Russians have declared peace with Germany. They are secretly going to
Omsk to support the anti-Bolshevik movement. Billy is upset that their mission has not been approved or even
announced to Parliament.
Lev Peshkov is also back in Russia, much to his regret. He blames his lack of self control with women. He
makes money selling military goods to the Cossacks, not forgetting his promise to send money to Grigori so
that he can go to America. Lev is reassigned as an interpreter in Omsk, four thousand miles into the interior of
Russia.

Ethel receives a coded letter from Billy telling her that he is in Russia with Fitz. Ethel and Bernie argue about
the Bolsheviks, Ethel fearing that Lenin could become as big a tyrant as the tsar. Bernie is the leading Labour
candidate from Aldgate, but Ethel has been nominated by the women. She is considering it, which angers
Bernie. As Maud worries about Walters fate, Lord Remarc tells her that the Germans have agreed to an
armistice.
It takes twenty-three days for Billy and the Aberowen Pals to reach Omsk. Billy finds the countryside
unexpectedly beautiful. Omsk is the headquarters of the anti-Bolshevik movement, and the citizens
exuberantly greet the American soldiers.
Gus Dewars platoon is fighting at the River Meuse when they hear of the cease-fire at 11:00 a.m. on
November 11, 1918. Gus orders Corporal Kerry to throw a grenade on the barn roof. He does so but is killed
by gunfire just seconds before the cease-fire takes effect. Gus feels guilty at exposing Kerry to danger despite
knowing the war would be over in five minutes.
Bernie feels betrayed by Ethel, but she knows she would be the better candidate. Ethel tells him that she is
declining the nomination, not because she is submitting herself to her husband but because she is pregnant.
She sees the irony in the possibility of a woman being elected to Parliament but having to decline because she
is having a baby.
London rejoices at the end of the war, but Walter fears that Germany is facing a revolution as the Kaiser
abdicates.
Chapters 34-35 Summary
Bernie is still bitter about Ethel being considered the better candidate. Ethel is angry at his bitterness. Lloyd
George announces that he will continue with a coalition government during peacetime. Bernie sees this as
traitorous to the Labour party, which soon announces that it will campaign against Lloyd George.
Maud sends a letter to Walter, not sure that the mail service between Britain and Germany has resumed. She is
horrified by the anti-German sentiment at home. She and Ethel still have not made up. At a meeting, Bernie is
interrupted by demands that he explain his views about throwing Germans out of Britain. He gives a halfhearted reply.
Woodrow Wilson becomes the first President to leave the country while in office when he goes to France to
present his Fourteen Points. Gus is with him, detached from the army. He worries about Wilsons declining
health. He meets his journalist friend, Rosa Hellman, who fears that Wilson has jeopardized the conference by
not bringing any Republicans, who now control both houses of Congress.
Bernie loses the election since the Liberal candidate supports the coalition. Ethel blames Lloyd George, but
Bernie blames himself. He is a thinker but not a leader. The coalition wins the election by a landslide,
although the Labour party does pick up a few seats. Bernie predicts the end of the Liberal party. Ethel writes
an article warning Parliament to keep its hands off of Russia.
Maud goes to Paris, having received no reply from Walter. She talks with Lord Remarc about war reparations,
which are so excessive that Germany will never be able to repay them. This is the plan: to keep Germany
subjected to the conquering nations.
Gus attends the League of Nations conference, amazed that the draft of the covenant is written within ten days
instead of weeks, months, or even years as was predicted. Wilson wants a draft to take back with him when he

returns to America on February 14. Things look questionable, however, when France proposes that the League
have its own army. This will not be approved by the United States, which would not allow its soldiers to be
under the command of another nation.
Racial equality is placed in the covenant; this causes problems for Woodrow Wilson, who is prejudiced
against Negroes. Compromises are made to move forward. In Paris, morality and fashion begins to change
dramatically. Gus and Rosa confess their love to one another.
Chapters 36-37 Summary
The anti-Bolshevik White armies continue to fight with the unofficial assistance of Fitz and the Aberowen
Pals, among others.
Fitz reads the British papers, delighted that Winston Churchill has been named Secretary of War since
Churchill is a hardliner when it comes to intervening in Russia. Fitz is worried that information of their
operation is being leaked. When he sees that Ethel Williams is leading the Hands Off Russia campaign, he
realizes that the leaks are probably coming from her brother Billy, who is still under Fitzs command in
Russia.
The Bolshevik Red army attacks, and Fitz is sure they will win the civil war. Lev Peshkov, still working as an
interpreter, disappears.
Grigori works alongside Trotsky. He urges the leader to use political rather than military measures. The White
leader Denikin is in favor of private property, which means that peasants would have to return land that they
gained in the Revolution. Spreading this information should turn peasant support to the Reds.
Lev shows up at Red headquarters, having been arrested and taken prisoner. Grigori hardly recognizes him,
seeing him as an American soldier. He sees that Levs casual attitude about people he uses is still prevalent.
Lev gives Grigori the money he has saved up for his brother to go to America, but Grigori refuses it, intending
to stay in Russia. He offers to get Lev back into normal Russian life, but Lev intends to return to America.
Grigori takes Lev out to no mans land and drops him off, letting him find his own way back to the White
army.
Billy Williams is court-martialed for revealing military secrets. Billy questions the legality of the court just as
he questions the legality of the military operation in Russia, which he accuses Fitz of making in his own
personal financial interest to regain Andres property for himself and his son. Billy is found guilty and
sentenced to ten years of penal servitude.
Walter writes a letter to Maud from Versailles since there is still no postal service between Germany and
Britain. Walter is appalled when he read the terms of the Versailles Treaty, which places full blame for the war
on Germany and limits its ability to defend itself. Walter unexpectedly meets Maud in the park. They discuss
how they are going to announce their marriage.
Gus and Rosa talk of the news that Lady Maud Fitzherbert is married to a German, which Gus had suspected
all along. Rosa announces that she is still an anarchist, which Gus sees as impractical. When Maud goes to the
opera, she is hissed at by the other social elite and runs out of the building. She agrees to go back to Germany
with Walter.
Chapters 38-39 Summary

Gus and Rosa return to America with President Wilson and then go up to Buffalo so that Rosa may
be introduced to Guss parents. Mrs. Dewar has always been critical of women in whom Gus has
been interested, so he is very nervous about what her reaction to Rosa will be.
He warns Rosa that his mother can be a snob, but Mrs. Dewar seems genuine in her welcome,
explaining that she knows Rosas brother, who plays violin in the orchestra of which she is a board
member.
Rosas parents come to dinner and the two families become acquainted. The men discuss the
League of Nations, which America wants to reject. President Wilson will travel around the country,
reaching out to the public rather than to the politicians. Gus worries about Wilsons health with the
punishing schedule he is undertaking.
At dinner, Gus asks Mr. Hellmans permission to marry his daughter, which he gladly gives. When
Gus proposes to Rosa and presents her with an engagement ring, Mrs. Dewar begins to cry.
Gus and Rosa both go with Wilson on his whistle-stop campaign around the country. After three
weeks of incessant speaking, Wilsons health breaks down and the tour is cancelled.
Gus discusses his plans to join a law firm specializing in international law, while Rosa will continue
her job as a reporter covering the White House. Since Wilsons treaty is sure to fail, Gus worries that
their children will have to fight in another world war.
Lev returns home to Buffalo and his daughter Daisy. While staying in his father-in-laws house, he
keeps Marga in a separate establishment since she has given birth to Levs son, whom he names
Gregory. He is repeatedly unfaithful to both his wife and his mistress. He manages nightclubs, which
are now facing the Volstead Act and Prohibition.
When Vyalov finds out about Marga and her baby, he physically attacks Lev, but Lev fights back
viciously, causing Vyalov to collapse with a massive heart attack.
Lev takes the money he earned selling military goods in Russia and heads for Canada. In Toronto,
he contemplates his options and comes up with a plan, but it requires his wife Olgas cooperation.
He trades his stolen car for a truck, which he fills with cases of Canadian whiskey, and heads back
to Buffalo.
He finds out that Vyalov has died. He convinces Olga to tell the police that Vyalov attacked him and
was not killed directly by Lev. She agrees only because her fathers businesses are failing due to
Prohibition and Lev can keep them going by selling illegal liquor. He plans on making a fortune.
CHp 40-42

Billy Williams is held in a military prison in London. Although it is more comfortable than many of the
places he has slept in since before the war, he has no communication with anyone on the outside
except through the newspapers.
He reads an article by Mildred revealing to the public the details of his wrongful imprisonment. It
presents Billy as a hero and a victim of the same type of injustice against which Britain fought.

During the summer of 1920, the Bolsheviks are at war with Poland. Fitz feels that Britain should
intervene on the side of the Poles, but public feeling is against this. At a dinner party (which is less
elaborate than those before the war), Fitz publicly berates Lloyd George to his face. The prime
minister, however, dismisses Fitzs opinions as irrelevant.
Thanks to the efforts of Mildred and Ethel, Billy is released and returns to Aberowen to marry
Mildred. He is welcomed home as a hero, but he finds that his hometown seems smaller to him and
he does not quite belong. He speaks to the crowd, promoting the platform of the Labour Party.
Ethel and Bernie have heated discussions over the Bolsheviks advances. In Russia, the Bolsheviks
lead a more comfortable lifestyle than the common Russian people do, to Grigoris dismayeven
though he and his family live inside the Kremlin in the apartments of a former lady-in-waiting.
Grigori tries to use his power as a member of the Central Committee to release a friend falsely
accused of treason, but he sees that the brutality of the tsars has returned in the guise of the
Bolsheviks.
By 1923, Maud and Walter have two children and are living middle-class lives in a small house.
Inflation is gradually pushing them toward poverty. The Munich Beer Hall Putsch highlights the
conditions in Germany. Walters cousin Robert announces that he has joined the Nationalist
Socialist party, commonly called the Nazi party.
Maud is forced to play piano at a jazz club to help the family survive. She is billed as Mississippi
Maud. She glories when someone gives her a dollar tip, which is worth a trillion marks. A loaf of
bread costs 127 billion marks. She and Walter read that the Nazi leader who tried to start a
revolution in Munich has been arrested and jailed. His name is Adolf Hitler.
Fitz speaks out against Billy in the Parliamentary elections in Aberowen, but Billy wins by a
landslide. So does his sister Ethel. She runs into Fitz while she is with Lloyd. For the first time, Fitz
sees his son.